Chapter 303

After the meeting ended, the Martial Saints dispersed to various parts of Great Wu, simultaneously sending the Evil Qi Containment Stele to Great Wu's borders.

Over half of Great Wu's army had mobilized toward the borders, and under the leadership of major sects like the Diamond Temple and the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, the jianghu also stirred, beginning to form a coalition army.

Now, in Great Wu, the existence of evil entities is no longer a secret; those with cultivation understand this is not an ordinary war, but a racial war.

At the same time, Shen Qing dispatched several Martial Saints of considerable strength to surrounding small states to investigate, hoping to find traces of where the evil entities are hiding.

Shen Qing this time is not about passive defense, but choosing to take the initiative and strike first.

The consciousness network continuously echoed with sounds.

"I am the Blade Leaf Martial Saint, Zhou Ye, and I have already arrived at East Sea Commandery."

"I am the Subdue Tiger Martial Saint, and I have already arrived at South Cloud Commandery."

Most of these are messages arriving at designated locations, but one person gave Shen Qing different news.

"I am the Split Earth Martial Saint, Qiao Zheng, and I am currently in the southern state of Jinbian. Here, I have discovered something unusual: recently, corpses have been drifting ashore at sea, and according to locals, the clothing worn by these people is all from Lan State."

Another Martial Saint's voice echoed in the consciousness network: "Could it be that Lan State's ships encountered disaster at sea? Have you gone to look in the deep ocean?"

This suspicion is not impossible.

The Split Earth Martial Saint Qiao Zheng spoke: "That makes sense; I will look toward the deep sea."

The consciousness network fell into silence, and by the time Qiao Zheng's voice sounded again, it had already become somewhat solemn.

"I discovered a large number of Lan State corpses in the deep sea; I am certain Lan State has encountered trouble, and it is related to evil entities."

"On the corpse of a Golden Core cultivator, I found sawtooth-shaped wounds; I would not mistake this wound's shape—it belongs to the Demon Insect King."

"Shen Qing, should I go to Lan State to investigate the situation?"

Shen Qing's voice sounded: "Wait a moment, don't rush. I glanced at the map—the Subdue Tiger Martial Saint is in South Cloud Commandery; flying to you would take only a few hours. Wait for the Subdue Tiger Martial Saint to go together to Lan State, so there is mutual support. If there truly are traces of evil entities, do not act rashly!"

The Subdue Tiger Martial Saint's voice sounded: "Yes!"

Fortunately, the southern states of Great Wu are all small, with little territory, and Jinbian State and Lan State are close; the Subdue Tiger and Split Earth Martial Saints reached Lan State in just one hour, then swiftly surveyed Lan State from within the high-altitude cloud layers.

The Subdue Tiger Martial Saint's voice sounded: "We have already arrived in Lan State, and we have confirmed that Lan State is occupied by tens of thousands of evil entities."

"Repeat: we have already arrived in Lan State, and we have confirmed that Lan State is occupied by tens of thousands of evil entities."

"Repeat..."

Shen Family Qilin Mountain, Shen Qing's eyes calm.

Lan State is a tiny, minuscule state—just the size of a small island, with a population of only a few hundred thousand, and the highest cultivation level there is at most the peak of Golden Core.

For evil entities, it is indeed an excellent hiding place.

Not long after, Shen Yun, Zhu Xuan, and Lu Yun arrived at Qilin Mountain, landing before Shen Qing: "What should we do now?"

Shen Qing smiled: "These evil entities really know how to pick their timing."

"They came right after we finished the New Year."

"But these evil entities have no manners—coming uninvited is bad enough, yet they didn't even greet us, the hosts."

"But since they lack manners, we cannot lack manners either."

"Summon all the Martial Saints from the south."

"Let us go pay a New Year's visit!"

"Let us teach this pack of beasts what the hell manners are!"

South, Lan State.

The evil entity Jia Shen, upon first arriving in this world, immediately chose to slaughter Lan State's tens of thousands of people to the last.

In Lan State's royal palace.

Jia Shen sat upon the throne, still holding Lan State's king's skull in hand, continuously devouring the lingering mental energy; his voice carried ease.

"What a beautiful world, and such delicious food."

Jia Shen looked toward the Demon Insect Mother: "Ah, Lan State in this world should be a small state, right? Such a small state actually has such a luxurious palace? Lan State is utterly inferior to Great Wu."

The Demon Insect Mother bowed respectfully: "Reporting to the Venerable One, Lan State is even the lowest among small states, incomparable to Great Wu; Lan State's entire territory is not even half the size of a single commandery of Great Wu, while Great Wu has dozens of such commanderies, not to mention the even vaster Nine Provinces."

"Similarly, their strength should not be underestimated; we should not make such a grandiose display..."

The evil entity Jia Shen's delighted voice sounded: "What! The most hated opponents of our evil spirit race are Great Wu—I never expected Great Wu in this world to be so prosperous? It seems I, Jia Shen, can eat my fill!"

The Demon Insect Mother felt a headache; what in the world did the evil spirit race send over? This Jia Shen simply refuses to listen to her.

These past few days, she has repeatedly reminded Jia Shen to act cautiously, but Jia Shen treats it as wind in the ears.

The Demon Insect Mother spoke: "Venerable One! You must not underestimate Great Wu! Moreover, our hastily constructed transmission portal is unstable; only a limited number of evil clan members can come through at once. If we now draw Great Wu's attention, we are doomed. Venerable One, you have fought Great Wu's Martial Saints in the Realm Battlefield—you know their strength!"

Jia Shen waved his hand indifferently:

"This time, the evil gods suddenly erupted, forcing those old things back to the Realm Battlefield and closing the passage; now, all of Great Wu should be leaderless dragons, in utter chaos!"

"I naturally know they are strong, but precisely because of that, I am so confident!"

"Among the remaining Martial Saints, some have terrifying strength—for example, Zhu Xuan and Shen Yun and their group."

"But Zhu Xuan has courage without strategy, not worth fearing; Shen Yun's strength is decent, but his mind is not too sharp; as for Lu Yun, his strength is acceptable, and he is intelligent, but he lacks background and cannot bear great responsibility; if these three were combined, they might still be passable."

"We have fought them for nearly a thousand years; my understanding of them and the intelligence I hold surpass what you imagine!"

Another one who believes in their own intelligence.

The Demon Insect Mother paused, then spoke: "Venerable One, those you indeed understand thoroughly."

"But the current Great Wu is different—several newly risen talents with aptitude comparable to Shen Yun and Zhu Xuan have emerged, and among them, one named Shen Qing is the most terrifying."

"He can slay a Martial Saint at the first level of Golden Core; you said a few days ago that it was because the four Venerable Ones sent were two slain, forcing you to prematurely activate the transmission portal, right?"

The Demon Insect Mother spoke more and more excitedly, even beginning to wave her arms and legs.

"As far as I know, those two Venerable Ones were both found and killed by this Shen Qing; moreover, the sea beasts' side has recently been turbulent, with a rumor circulating that the second Venerable One was slain by Shen Qing in Wa State, and that the Venerable One and the Wa State Martial Saint of Fivefold Eightfold Martial Saint could not even last the time to finish a cup of tea in Shen Qing's hands."

"This Shen Qing has terrifying talent, rapid cultivation progress—last month he could only slay a first-level Martial Saint, this month he can slay a fifth-level Martial Saint, and he can even consecutively find two Venerable Ones, indicating Shen Qing has good fortune, is intelligent, and he is the direct descendant of the Shen Family Ancestor, deeply favored by the Martial Emperor and the Shen Family Ancestor's Western Sea; if aided by Shen Yun and others, he might truly be able to swiftly control Great Wu."

Jia Shen paused: "Great Wu still has such a person? Why didn't you say so two days ago?"

The demonic insect mother wanted to cry but had no tears: "I already said it!"

Even so, Jia Shen still waved his hand indifferently: "It's fine. According to what you said, Lan State isn't some insignificant little country—no one would notice this place anyway."

"And even if Shen Qing is capable, he can't possibly stabilize Great Wu this quickly, can he?"

"Besides, even if he did stabilize Great Wu, if news of Lan State were discovered and sent back to Great Wu, it would take time—surely Shen Qing doesn't have long-distance communication abilities like you do, does he?"

Before the words finished, the palace gates were kicked flying by someone.

Shen Qing's voice rang out: "What did you say? You've already interrogated them, right? The leader of these evil entities is Jia Shen? Fine, I got it. You ask where I am? You don't need to worry about that—just get moving on your end and teach these evil things what the hell manners are!"

Shen Qing ended the call on the consciousness network, walked unhurriedly into the palace, and behind him followed four people: Zhu Xuan, Shen Yun, the Vajra Martial Saint, and Qing Xuan Daoist.

Shen Qing looked at Jia Shen with a contemptuous gaze.

"His mother, you're called Jia Shen?"